City Commissioners rejected an attempt to permanently ban all dogs from Central Park, and instead voted to allow dogs there for rare special events.“I think this (ordinance) has definitely brought up the issue of keeping the parks clean,” said City Commissioner Steve Leary.On Monday, the commissioners held a second public hearing on a proposed ordinance to allow the city manager to make special exemptions for dogs to be in Central Park and other prohibited park areas when special events are being held.The ordinance had been drafted in response to a request by Brian Wettstein, who owns the Doggie Door gift shop on Park Avenue and wants access to Central Park for the annual Halloween pet costume contest on Oct. 27.But it also brought out city residents who strongly opposed the idea, like Linda Eriksson, who said the problem with the new ordinance is that people bring dogs into the parks anyway, in violation of the current ban, and those rules never get enforced.“I am still anti having the dogs in the park,” she said. “People don’t follow the rules as it is. I’ve slipped in dog poop in that park.”Winter Park resident Sally Flynn agreed, saying “I just feel there should be one park in this city that is safe for people.”City Manager Randy Knight admitted that Winter Park simply doesn’t have the manpower to enforce the current ban.“We do not actively put people out there to reinforce the no dogs rule, because we don’t have the resources for that,” Knight said. “It is an enforcement issue, and we don’t have the resources to do that.”That prompted City Commissioner Carolyn Cooper to propose that the new ordinance specifically exclude Central Park, and allow that park to continue to be one that does not allow dogs under any circumstances.“I am not comfortable with Central Park for dogs,” Cooper said. “I would like to make a motion and move that all references to Central Park be removed from this ordinance. For me, I believe that Central Park is indeed different, and it’s okay to keep it different.”But that motion was rejected, 4-1.Wettstein, who attended the meeting at City Hall, told commissioners he only needed the park for one upcoming event, and he pledged to clean up after it.“If this would go forward, it would be a very limited use,” Wettstein said. “We will definitely take care of making sure that area is cleaned up before, during and after the event.”Other commissioners said if they limited use of the park for dog events to just a few per year, that would not create much in the way of additional cleaning headaches for the city.“It’s not going to take any additional staff to deal with what they are proposing,” Leary said.The new ordinance states that anyone looking to bring dogs into Central Park for special events would first have to give Knight 30 days advance notice. The dogs would also have to be maintained on a leash, and the owners and organizers of the special event would be required to keep the park clean at all times.The city manager also has the discretion to reject any application that comes before him.